Bush breaks $100m barrier

George W Bush has become the first 100 Million Dollar Man of American presidential elections, setting a fundraising record unrivalled by Bill Clinton or Al Gore.

The Republican presidential nominee will formally report to the US federal elections commission this month that by the end of July he had raised $95m (£63m) for his election bid from individuals and political committees.

Mr Bush raised another $5m for legal expenses and in transfers, bringing the total over the $100m mark for the first time in US electoral history.

Until now, the record for one individual was held by Ross Perot, who raised $73m for his first presidential run on behalf of his Reform party in 1992. Almost all of that money came from Mr Perot's own pocket.

Ironically, Mr Bush has to thank Mr Clinton for presiding over the economic prosperity that allowed more than 350,000 Republican donors to sign large cheques to the Bush campaign. Mr Clinton made that prosperity the centrepiece of his farewell speech to the Democratic convention in Los Angeles on Monday night.

Mr Bush's spokesman, Scott McClellan, said yesterday: "In building this unprecedented support, Governor Bush has reached out to new faces and new voices who previously have not supported Republicans or who have not participated in the political process."

"That really exceeds anything we've ever seen, even if you were to put two or three presidential campaigns together," said Herb Alexander, a professor at the University of Southern California, who has studied political fundraising.

Until he was nominated by his party at the start of this month, Mr Bush had financed his campaign through private donations, refusing to accept matching federal funds which would have placed a cap on the amount he could raise. By contrast, Mr Gore, his Democratic rival, took the federal money to top up his own funds.

Both men are now accepting full federal funds. Mr Bush has already received the cheque for $67.6m to which he is entitled as the duly nominated Republican contender. Mr Gore will be eligible for a similar cheque after he is officially nominated for the Democrats this week. The Reform party nominee, Pat Buchanan, is in line for $12.6m, based on Mr Perot's performance in 1996.

Mr Clinton raised about $66m in his two presidential runs in 1992 and 1996, while Mr Gore has raised $34m, according to his most recent published accounts.

Even though they are consistently outdone on the fundraising front, the Democrats are this week proving to be no slouches at the game.

At an event in Santa Monica on Sunday for the "Blue Dog" Democrats, the party's biggest individual donors, the sponsors included the National Rifle Association and the cigarette giant Philip Morris. Each of the Blue Dogs paid $50,000 to attend.

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